A New Rice Cultivar Wulingjing 1 Resistant to Rice Stripe Virus Developed by Marker Assisted Selection

Abstract Rice stripe disease is one of the most serious diseases in rice ( Oryza sativa L.) production area in Jiangsu Province, China since 2002. A highly susceptible rice cultivar with excellent food-tasted quality, Wuyujing 3, was improved through the molecular marker-assisted selection in a backcross of Zhendao 88 (with resistance gene Stvb-i ). In each backcross generation, the progenies with Stvb-i were selected based on its closely flanking markers. In the advanced backcross generations, marker genotyping of the target gene and visual selection for the phenotype of the recurrent parent were conducted in the selected progeny plants during backcrossing. As a result, a novel cultivar, Wulingjing 1, was fleetingly bred in the BC 3 F 4 generation, whose resistance to the disease was significantly enhanced and the main agronomic traits and characteristics, especially the excellent food-tasted quality were consistent with that of the recurrent parent. In the resistance tests in multiple locations organized by the Seed Management Department of Jiangsu Province, the diseased plant ratio of Wulingjing 1 was only 4.4%, which was significantly lower than that of the recurrent parent (53.2%).